Is this a good Receiver?

How would you rate Onkyo?
Thanks,
Marc

Then again so is Denon, Yamaha, Marantz and others. I wouldn't exclude any of these from my system. The final decision may revolve more around features as opposed to performance.

Your question is kind of general so please excuse a general answer.

If I were to buy a mass market receiver Onkyo would be my first choice. Their amp section is a high current design which gives good slam and allows you to drive a wider variety of speakers because it will drive more difficult loads.

The nay sayers will soon jump in and try to tell you "high current" is just marketing, yatta yatta but those are inexperienced persons who don't have any business giving advice. When you go to listen try to use the same cd player and speakers. Then compare Onkyo to receivers even rated at higher power, you will hear what I'm telling you, or if not, save some money and buy cheap. When listening to the bass, which is tighter and offers the most detail? Presuming these are attributes you'd be in favor of. The Onkyo should sound more powerful even if the other receiver has a higher power rating.

If you would like a receiver that can do both music and A/V very well check out the Arcam receivers. If none in your area www.redtrumpet.com carries them. I consider the performance of the Arcam a step up from most any receiver based only on sound.

I know you probably won't consider my opinion, but I would rate Onkyo as being very good equipment. I would say that they are second on my list, but that does not include anything out of my price range. Overall I would say good value for their receivers.

~Dk

I have had many Onkyo Receivers so far. The 555, 636, 838, 919 and 939. The build quality is usually exellent and they weigh a bit more than the competition too ;) I was very happy with all of them and they are very easy to use and easy to setup. <-Especially the 939.

Ofcourse there are other makers such as Yamaha, Denon and Marantz. I also owne from Denon a AVC11 and a Marantz SR7200. And a Harman Kardon AVR7000. From the list my favorietes were the Onkyo 939, the HK7000 and the Marantz SR7200.

But they all sounded differently and had different features. The Marantz souned very settled in the Mids with relaxing highs and decent bass. The Onkyo 939 was very sweet in the mids and the highs and very detailed in the bass. The HK7000 was warm just a nice sounding unit with tons of power and a lot of details.

A Receiver which blew them all away was definetly the Cambridge Audio Azur 540R, which is a lot cheaper too. I would choose the Onkyo for Movies, the HK for Movies(close to the 939) and Music . The Marantz more for Music and some Movies as he lacked the directness.

Hope i helped a bit.